I have a 20' Hydrostream Vegas XT with
a 200 Merc, nosecone, & Powerlift. I ran a 28" Spinelli chopper
big ear on it last summer but one of the blades snapped. What is the
best performance propeller you would recommend for it? Is it the
Spinelli DR4 and what pitch would I want to go with? Thanks a lot in
advance. Bob D.

Bob
D.:

Iíve had good Spinelli
props and not so good ones.Nothing
against them, as Iíve had good and bad props from everybody.Mike Spinelli can only build a prop based on the information
given to him.Iíve found
that the bad props are bad because of poor communication between the
prop technician and the boat owner.Anyway, would a DR4 work?The
only way to find out is to try it.Iíve never put one on an XT.Last year we ran an XT with the same power and set back, ran 10
props, and believe it or not, there was 16 mph (yes 16) between props.The following are the things the XT told us.It likes big blade area props, the fastest ones were chopper
style.Generally four
blades were slower but consistent to trim or height (basically didnít
care where they were run).Four
blades tend to lift the tail unless run excessively high on transom.We found a good three blade could run deeper with more punch
because of it and was faster all around.So what would I buy?If
I bought a Spinelli wheel, I would ask for a 28 in. big blade (area not
diameter) with a light cup.Blade area is more important than cup.Too much cup only slows you down, no exceptions.That or a 14Ĺ in. x 28 in. Chopper II, Mazco RE, or anything
similar.OMC RX props have
less blade area so they tend to be fast with a light load but not with a
full load.Without sounding
matter of fact, this is only the tip of the iceburg, but I think it will
get you in the right direction.

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